A Prayer For Owen Meany vs. Catch 22

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I have to read one of these novels for school...which is better?

― Peter Boyle, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

catch 22, in that it's ok whereas owen meany is terrible.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

hstencil to thread

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

dude, Catch 22 reads like bad Vonnegut

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked both well enough

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Owen Meany gets better after it picks up 5 or 6 chapters in. The one where Hester The Molester pisses on him. And for some bizarre reason I thought Irving moved to Canada. Or maybe thats just one of his characters.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

The narrator of Owen Meany states that he can no longer live in the U.S. - he's a teacher in Canada. Not sure if this is also true of Irivng. Heller is a superior writer, but Owen Meany's a smoother read - Catch 22 is rich and dark, whereas Owen Meany is ultimately good-hearted pleasant lite-Dickens. The plotting is typically great though.

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

not that this has anyhting to do with the original topic, but whihc of them is more "dirty"....containns cuss words, naughty events, etc>!

― Timothy Leary, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

good criteria for book selection! "dirty"

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, that guy just completely shit all over this thread.

But more opinions would be great, if anyone has them.

― Peter Boyle, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Prayer for Owen Meany is probably dirtier, sexually speaking. I think both books are over-rated, but Owen Meany much more so. Every six months or so I meet someone who tells me that Owen Meany is their favorite book ever. I don't really get that--it is a well paced and enjoyable and sometimes moving tale, but it is also hamfisted and transparent in too many places. It's my least favorite of Irving's novels (but I am not a huge Irving fan so maybe that's me).

I remember Catch 22 as being, as John said, rich and dark, but I read it when I was 18 or 19, so I was more susceptible to that kind of stuff. I don't know if the satire would work on me as well today.

― Scott CE (Scott CE), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Catch-22 is an amazing book; far better than Owen Meany. And while it is dark and rich (I prefer this order to "rich and dark" heh), it reveals some fascinating truths about war and friendship, and is quite possibly one of the funniest books I've ever read. It is heartbreaking.

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Owen Meany was a book I loved like 10 years ago; I doubt it would do much for me now. I tried reading Catch-22 around the same time and couldn't get into it. So. Are these in some way similar or comprarable books?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

John Irving books = R-rated sitcoms with incest

I'm probably sounding like a crotchety old man here, but are they letting you read John Irving in a Literature class?! I call shenanigans on that.

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"I'm probably sounding like a crotchety old man here, but are they letting you read John Irving in a Literature class?! I call shenanigans on that."

Yeah, 11th grade literature.

And no, they aren't comparable, but they're on a list of books I have to read this summer and I didn't know which one to get (I have to pick one of the two.)

― Peter Boyle, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Catch-22.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Owen Meany

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 06:51 (twenty-one years ago)

catch 22 took me a while to get through and i found it dull, owen meany was a hundred-pages-a-day kinda book.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 06:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Catch 22 is stunning - mcd describes it perfectly up thread. It will take you a while to get into, but at some point you'll just Get It, and the next 300 pages will be a wonderful, life-changing joy.

― Markelby (Mark C), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 10:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeh, Catch 22 is fantastic. Best bit is the trial near the start, and the random wandering at the end where the city is nasty and horrible.

(someone told me that last scene is cribbed from a russian novel - true/false?)

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm one of those ridiculous Owen Meany fans, but Catch-22 is another fav. I think OM is a safer bet for you -- it's consistently funny, moving, and well-structured. Catch-22 seems to be one of those books that people either love or they just don't get, and I've known several people who have put it down without finishing, which I've never known anyone to do with OM.

That said, they're pretty different works. OM is Victorian in style and structure (if not content), while C-22 is more original and modern formally. Their concerns are quite varied, too.

― JC-L (JC-L), Thursday, 24 June 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

John Irving demonstrated Owen Meany's voice at his talk at the edinburgh book fest last year.

― leigh (leigh), Thursday, 24 June 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

mp3?

― People love Gravity and Ebullition! (ex machina), Thursday, 24 June 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

are you kidding? Catch-22 all the way. John Irving shoulda been shot (or killed in some horrible bear/wrestling-related incident) after 158-Pound Marriage

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Thursday, 24 June 2004 20:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I really liked Owen Meany--thought it was a good, quirky book with interesting story and characters.

― pepektheassassin (pepektheassassin), Friday, 25 June 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Catch 22 is a great novel. A real book. John Irving started with promise and slid down the sluiceway of perversity. J.I. appeals to teenagers who also relate to the animal house scene with d. sutherland and the universe being under ones fingernail, etc.

― Skottie, Sunday, 27 June 2004 02:56 (twenty-one years ago)

owen meany definitely..

morley, just got over with 158 pound marriage.. didnt do much for me either

― cheeesoo (cheeesoo), Sunday, 27 June 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

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